Blade Runner: 30 Years Later

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the film Blade Runner's release, and to celebrate I bought the deluxe 4-disc edition and watched the original U.S. theatrical cut of the film (my preferred version, with original voice over and happy ending intact). After thirty years, it holds up remarkably well.

For those who are not familiar, Blade Runner takes place in 2019 Los Angeles and tells the story of Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a detective who's job it is to hunt down and kill hyper-realistic androids called replicants who have escaped back to earth, where they are banned. I won't spoil the story for anyone who has yet to see the film, but the plot explores the implications of artificial intelligence and the question of what it means to be human. A blend of action, science-fiction, and film noir, the narrative deviates quite a bit from its source material, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, but still captures what I believe to be the true spirit of the book. Make no mistake, the film's vision of the future is not a happy one whatsoever, rife with 1980's pessimism, but as you already know or will see, everything fits.

Blade Runner, which would easily rank among my favorite films of any genre, is one that grows on you with time and subsequent viewings. This is evident by the fact that it was considered somewhat of a failure after its initial release, but gained a loyal following as time went by. A.F.I ranked it the 97th greatest movie of all time in 2007, if that's any indication. There is no CGI used in the film, which is why it holds up so well in my opinion. The special effects look legitimately real and you get lost in the look and feel of 2019 L.A., a result that was obsessively pursued by director Ridley Scott during pre-production and shooting.

In all honesty I could write for hours about Blade Runner (and did for one of my seminar term papers this past school year), but I suppose the one thing I will say on this 30th anniversary is that this film is more relevant than ever, and will continue down this path as long as man continues to push the boundaries of technology. Blade Runner has it all... action, romance, flying cars... and is truly movie-making at its best. Here's to thirty more years of appreciation.